Shaping attachment for tenoning machines



J. H. MANSFIELD SHAPING ATTACHMENT FOR TENONING MACHINES Feb. 22, 1949.

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J. H. MANSFIELD SHAPING ATTACHMENT FOR TENONING MACHINES 4 sheets-sheet 5 Filed Sept. 28, 1943 BY dull-2 Feb. 22, 1949. J. H. MANSFIELD 2,462,653

SHAPING ATTACHMENT FOR TENONING'MACHINES Filed Sept. 28, 1943 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 m MW 0M INVENTOR.

Patented Feb. 22, 1949 UNITED SHAPING ATTACHMENT FOR TENONING MACHINES Judson H. Mansfield, Rockford, 111., assignor to Greenlee Bros. & 00., Rockford, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application September 28, 1943, Serial No. 504,120

7 Claims. 1

This invention relates to Wood-working machinery, and is particularly concerned with a shaping mechanism designed as an attachment for the type of machine known as a double-end tenoner, such a machine being more fully shown and described in U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,711,275, dated April 30, 1929. In the drawings herewith, only a fragmentary portion of the larger machine is shown, since the invention is concerned primarily with the shaping mechanism and structure closely associated with it.

One object of the invention is to provide a new and improved wood-working mechanism for attachment to a tenoning machine and having the character of a shaper.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shaping mechanism adapted to cooperate with the feeding means of the tenoner which advances the work-piece at a uniform rate and in a straight path through the machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shaping mechanism arranged as a part of a tenoning machine and having a cutter and an arbor therefor mounted for movement transversely of their axis of rotation, and toward and from the path of travel of a work-piece, in timed relation to the travel thereof for producing a predetermined contour on the work-piece.

It is also an object of the invention to provide an attachment for a tenoner comprising a shaping mechanism in which the cutter is mounted for bodily movement transversely of its axis of rotation, and in which such movement is controlled by a cam operated in timed relation to feeding mechanism of the tenoner which advances the work-piece through the machine.

More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a cam-controlled mechanism for moving the cutter of a shaper bodily and transversely of its axis to produce a predetermined contour, together with means whereby a patternpiece previously produced with the desired contour, may be employed in the machine as a controller for marking out or cutting a cam of the corresponding shape, for subsequent use in the machine.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a shaping mechanism embodying this invention, showing the same applied to a machine of the type known as a double-end tenoner.

Fig. 2 is a plan view, being fragmentary as to the machine, but showing the cam-operated 2 mechanism and the shaping cutter which is controlled thereby.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevation, partly in section, taken substantially as indicated at the line 33 on Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view, with parts broken away to show the timing gearing for the cam.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken as indicated at the line 5-5 on Fig. 2, to show the drive gearing for the cutter.

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view showing the substitution of a cutter for the cam follower roller as employed in producing a new cam in accordance with this invention.

Fig. '7 is a partial plan view of a piece of work having a special contour which the mechanism of this invention is capable of producing.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a block or roller to be substituted for the cutter in producing a new cam.

Fig. 9 is a plan view of a pattern-piece employed in the production of a new cam.

Fig. 10 is a plan View of a special arm employed in producing a cam.

The usual shaping machine includes a vertical arbor which carries a rotatable cutter projecting above the surface of a table on which the work is moved with its edge against the cutter for producing the desired cross-sectional contour of the edgegoverned by the shape of the cutter blades-and for producing the required longitudinal contour of the piece. But for producing such articles in quantities it is desirable to provide means which will automatically control the contour and the feed of the piece through the machine, in correct relation to the cutter. The present invention provides means of this character, and it is designed to be supplied as an attachment to a machine of the type known as a double-end tenoner, because such a machine already provides means for feeding the workpiece, usually in a horizontal plane, at a uniform and predetermined rate of movement.

Fig. 1 shows, in perspective, a portion of such a machine, in which a feed chain 1 is provided for carrying the work forward through the machine, and a hold-down chain 2, preferably having rubber-shod links, is disposed directly above the feed chain 1 for maintaining the work-piece in position. The work-piece is usually in the form of a board or panel, and the mechanism of the present invention is intended to operate against the edge of the piece which projects from between the feed chains 1 and 2.

The working mechanism includes a cope head or cutter 3 secured to the upper end of its shaft or arbor by means of a clamping nut 4, together with means for rotating the arbor 5, as seen in Fig. 5. The arbor is journaled in ball bearings 6 and 'I, and carries a pinion 8 which meshes with a drive gear 9, secured to a shaft I6. This shaft may be the extension of a motor shaft II, and it may be understood that the driving motor of which the shaft H is a part, is disposed with its axis of rotation substantially vertical, and is arranged for adjustment vertically and horizontally on the supporting frame of the machine.

Since the cutter 3 and its shaft or arbor are arranged as a part of the unit which includes the driving motor and its gear 9, the travel of the cutter toward and from the path of movement of the work-piece between the feed chains I and 2 is accomplished by swinging the Vertically disposed arbor 5 about the axis of its driving gear 9 and its shaft II]. For this purpose, the casing I4, which encloses the gear 9, is formed externally with a flange onto which there is secured a gear segment I6, and this segment meshes with the corresponding segment I'I carried by an arm I8, which is fulcrumed for limited rotation or swinging movement about the axis of a stud I9 carried by a bracket 20 extending from the housing of the cope spindle motor, as seen in Fig. 3. Adjacent the pivot stud l9 the arm I8 includes a portion 2 I, with clamping bolts 22, 22 screwed into it at opposite sides of the axis of the pivot I9, and a second arm 23 is engaged with the pivot and is formed with slots 24, 24 through which the clamping bolts 22, 22 extend so that the angular relation of the arms I8 and 23 may be adjusted through a limited range, as desired.

At its outer end the arm 23 carries a cam follower roller 25 for engagement with the edge of a cam 26, and said cam, preferably formed of wood or other easily worked material, is secured by bolts 21 to a face plate 28 which is secured by cap screws 28 and positioned by dowel pins 28*, on the hub 29 of a gear 30 for rotation therewith. As seen in Fig. 3, the gear 30 is journaled on a stud or shaft 3|, fixed within a housing 32, and the gear 39 is a spiral gear, meshing with a worm or spiral gear 33 on a transverse shaft 34. The shaft 34 is preferably one of the main shafts of the machine to which the shaping mechanism embodying this invention is applied as an attachment, and, as indicated in Fig. 1, the shaft 34 carries the drive chain I, and therefore rotates in timed relation therewith. Accordingly, the rotary motion of the cam 26, being derived from the shaft 34, is in timed relation to the travel of the feed chains I and 2, and to the movement of the work-piece through the machine. Fig. 3 indicates such a work-piece at A, traveling adjacent the cope head or cutter 3.

It will now be clear that if the follower roller 25 is maintained in contact with the periphery of the cam 26 while the cam is rotated and the work is advanced by chains I and 2, the cutter 3 38 which extends around a pulley 31 and is anchored to the flange I5 of the gear casing I4, said flange having a groove, as indicated at 38, to accommodate and guide said cable 36. By means of the clamping screws 22, the arm 23, which carries the follower roller 25, may be adjusted with relation to the arm l8 so as to bring the roller into contact with the cam at the proper time, and with the cutter 3 positioned at the desired distance from the chains I and 2, and in proper relation to the edge of the Work-piece A upon which it is to operate. The housing 32, which includes a casing 39 enclosing the driving gear or worm 33, is supported from the frame of the machine by means of an arm 40 and also by a bracket 4|, as seen in Fig. 2, and to insure that the timed relation between the drive chain I and the cam 26 is not disturbed if the shaping attachment is temporarily disconnected, the drive connection with the shaft 34 is made by means of separable clutch collars 42 and 43 which are formed so that they can be engaged with each other at only one position.

An example of the type of work which can be performed by a shaping mechanism of this character is shown in Fig. '7, which represents a portion of a shelf B or the like, having its edge recessed at B with the recessed portion connected by curved contours B B and with straight end sections of the edge at B The cam 26, shown in Fig. 2, is of a suitable shape to produce this contour, but it will be recognized that many variations of this outline may be formed by substituting cams of other shapes.

Ordinarily, it is not necessary that the cam 26 be made of metal; usually, a wooden cam, preferably constructed of plywood, will suffice, and such a cam may be very quickly and economically produced by first making up a single specimen board or panel, such as shown in Fig. 9, at C, having the desired contour or outline which is to be produced by the machine. The cross-sectional contour of this piece need not correspond to the final molded edge which the special cutter 3 will produce, but the longitudinal outline of the edge will be the same as that of the finished pieces to be made on the machine. Such a pattern Will be placed between the chains I and 2 in engagement with one of the upright driving lugs I, with which the chain l is equipped for positively moving a work-piece through the machine, and the cutter 3 will be replaced with a smooth, cylindrical block or roller of substantially the same diameter as the cutter 3 and adapted for contact with the special contour of the edge of the pattern piece being fed through the machine. Such a block or roller is shown in Fig. 8. The follower roller 25 will be replaced by a rotary cutter 45, as shown in Fig. 6, carried by the shaft of a small driving motor 41. The cutter 45 and its motor 41 are supported by a special arm 23 (shown in Fig. 10) which is substituted temporarily for the arm 23, and which includes an annular portion 23 to which the casing of the motor 41 is firmly secured by screws extending through holes 23 in said arm. As the roller 44 follows the contour of the pattern-piece as it is fed along by the chains I and 2, the arm 23 will be swung about its pivot at I9. A disk of wood, clamped to the face plate 28in the position of the cam 23, will then be shaped by the rotary cutter 45 as the face plate revolves,-while the arm 23 is swung about its pivot under control of the contour of the pattern-piece, with the result that the disk will be given the peripheral shape of a cam suitable for producing the contour of the pattern' piece. The arm 23*, together with the cutter 45 and its motor 41, may then be detached, andreplaced by the arm 23 with the follower roller 25, and the smooth roller 44 will be replaced by the cutter 3. The machine will then be ready to produce work of'a contour corresponding to that of the pattern, and with a molded edge of any desired shape, depending upon the particular form of the blades of the cutter or cope head 3.

During the operation just described, the substitute block or roller 44 will be held in contact with the shaped edge of the pattern-piece C by the pressure exerted by the weight 35 acting through the cable 36 and sheave or pulley formed by the flange 15. This pressure is also the effective pressure which holds the cutter 3 to its work during the regular operation of the machine, and by virtue of the fact that this pressure originates in a weight operating around the segmental pulley l5, and acting through a uniform lever arm, the working pressure on the cutter is substantially constant and independent of the contour which the cutter is cause to follow under control of the cam 25. In setting up the machine for a particular operation, since the driving lugs I on the chain I are necessarily disposed at definite points on the chain, it may be necessary to correct the timing of the cam-operated control to fit a particular situation, either by shifting the arm 23 of the follower lever with respect to the arm l8, as permitted by the arcuate slots 2.4, or by shifting the cam 26 about its axis and re-clamping it in position by means of the bolts 2?. Since there may be some backlash in the gearing which drives the face plate 23 and the cam 26,. it is preferable to provide a friction brake-band 50 which engages the periphery of the face plate 28 and is anchored to the cover plate 32 of the gear casing 32, thus creating a frictional drag which takes up the backlash and thus avoids any chatter in the operation of the cam control or of the cutter 3.

The shaping mechanism of this invention is designed to be supplied as an added attachment to a tenoning machine which includes a cope head having its own motor mounted on the frame of the machine for limited horizontal and vertical adjustment. Such a construction is shown in U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,711,275, and it may be understood that in the present structure the cope head motor is that of which a fragment is shown at 5! in Fig. 5. This driving motor 5! is surmounted by a cap plate 52 to which there is anchored a base flange 53 supporting the sleeve 5% for the shaft extension !Q. The special gear casing it for the shaping attachment encloses the gear 9, carried by the shaft and is rotatably supported on the base flange 53 and by the sleeve 54 with its ball bearings 55, while an interlocking, dust-excluding tongue-and-groove formation 56 is provided at the engagement of the casing with the flange 53. The ball bearings 55 retain the casing 14 in position while the shaft is and its gear 9 operate therein, independently of the rotative adjustment of the casing l4 about the axis of the shaft for swinging the cutter 3 toward and from the path of the work-piece. The laterally off-set chamber M which encloses the driven gear 8 and the shaft or arbor 5, is provided with an oil sum M and with oiling wicks which extend upwardly from the sump into contact with a flange 5 on the arbor 5 for distributing oil to the bearings and to the gears.

The gear casing 32, which supports the shaft 3| for driving the cam 26, is carried by the arm 40, which is shown bolted to a guard of the feed chain at one side of the said casing 32, while a second arm 68 extends from the opposite side and is bolted to a housing of the tenoner, as seen in Fig. 1. The portion 39 of the gear casing is steadied by the arm M, which is secured to a part of the main frame, as seen in Fig. 2. The bracket 20, which supports the fulcrum pivot It for the cam follower lever I8, 23, is bolted at one end to the frame or casing of the motor 5! which drives the shaping cutter 3, and the other end of this arm 20 is adjustably secured to an upstanding lug BI on the casing 39. A bolt 62 extends through a slot 63 in said lug 6|, and the head 64 of the bolt is engaged in a T-slot 65 at right angles to the slot 63. Since the cope head motor 5| is vertically adjustable by means of the hand wheel 5% and horizontally adjustable by means of the hand wheel 56*, the slots 53 and 65 permit the bracket arm 20 to be accommodated to any position of the motor 5| within a limited range of adjustment.

In the particular example illustrated in the drawings, the cam 26 is shown with a concentric, or delay, portion extending through more than one-half its periphery. This is because the par-- ticular work-piece A happens to be relatively short, occupying less than half the distance between consecutive lugs I of the feed chain 1, as these lugs are normall spaced. It will be evident that, if a considerable quantit of such work pieces were to be produced, the chain could be fitted with twice as many lugs, spaced at half the normal interval, and the cam could be made with two active lobes instead of having only one, as shown herein.

While I have shown in the drawings and have herein described in detail a preferred form of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not intend to limit the invention to the specific form or application disclosed, but aim to cover all modifications and alternative constructions falling within the scope of the invention as ex pressed in the claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a shaping machine which includes workfeeding means arranged to support and propel a work-piece along a predetermined path, a rotary cutter, and an arbor therefor, a drive shaft jour naled parallel to said arbor with driving gears connecting the arbor to said shaft, a support in which the arbor is journaled mounted for rotative adjustment about the axis of the drive shaft, a rotary cam removably supported for operation in timed relation to said work-feeding means, a two-part lever pivoted on an axis which is in fixed relation to said axis of the drive shaft, and a roller on said lever engaging the cam, whereby said cam controls the adjustment of the arbor and its cutter toward and from the path of the work-piece, the portion of said lever which carries the roller being adjustable toward and from the cam and relative to the other part of said lever to accommodate the roller to different cams interchangeably employed.

2. In a tenoning machine which includes workfeeding means arranged to propel a work-piece along a horizontal path and a cope head having a driving motor disposed with its shaft extending vertically adjacent said path, said motor being adjustably mounted in the machine, a shaping attachment comprising a rotary cutter, an arbor therefor geared to said motor shaft, and a support in which said cutter arbor is mounted on the cope head for adjustment about the axis of said shaft, together with a cam driven in timed relation to said work-feeding means, a

lever having a follower engaging said cam, means connecting said lever to the arbor support for swinging it about the axis of the motor shaft, a bracket on which said lever is fulcrurned, means securing one end of said bracket rigidly to the cope head motor, and means securing the other end of the bracket to a fixed part of the machine, said last-mentioned means having a range of adjustment to compensate for the adjustment of the cope head motor.

3. In the combination defined in claim 2, said cope head motor being mounted for both horizontal and vertical adjustment, the fixed part to which said bracket is secured having a slot, said bracket having a terminal portion with a slot overlapping the first-mentioned slot and extending at right angles thereto, and a clamping bolt extending through both slots to complete the securement with capacity for vertical and horizontal adjustment.

4. In a shaping machine which includes workfeeding means, a rotary cutter and an arbor therefor, a drive shaft journalled parallel to said arbor with driving gears connecting the arbor to said shaft, a support in which the arbor is journalled mounted for rotative adjustment about the axis of the drive shaft, and cam means operated in timed relation to the work-feeding means and controlling said adjustment of the arbor support to swing the cutter toward and from the path of the work, said cam means including a lever having a cam follower on one end, a gear segment on the other end, and a gear segment on said arbor support for engagement by said first-mentioned gear segment for swinging said arbor support about the drive shaft axis.

5. In a shaping machine which includes workfeeding means, a rotary cutter, and an arbor therefor, a drive shaft journalled parallel to said arbor with driving gears connecting the arbor to said shaft, a support in which the arbor is journalled mounted for rotative adjustment about the axis of the drive shaft, cam means operated in timed relation to the work-feeding means and controlling said adjustment of the arbor support to swing the cutter toward and from the path of the work, said support comprising a casing which encloses said driving gears connecting the arbor to the drive shaft, said casing having gear teeth exteriorly disposed thereon, and said cam means comprising a rotary cam, a lever fulcrumed between its ends with a cam follower roller carried by one end of the lever in operative engagement with the cam, and a gear segment at the other end of the lever meshing with the gear teeth on said casing for swinging the casing and said arbor toward and from the path of the work as the cam rotates.

6. In a shaping machine, feeding means constituting a first carrier, an arbor constituting a first element mounted adjacent said first carrier,

a swingable casing in which said arbor is mounted'for bodily movement substantially at right angles to its axis, a rotatably mounted face plate constituting a second carrier, a lever fulcrumed between its ends and having at one end a shaft constituting a second element adjacent the face plate and at its other end a gear segment, a gear segment on said casing meshing with the gear segment on the lever for swinging the casing and lever in dilferent paths and moving said first element and said second element toward and away from the path of their adjacent respective carrier, means on one of said elements constituting a cutter operable upon a member carried on the adjacent carrier, and means on the other one of said elements constituting a follower operable against a formed member on the adjacent carnor.

7. In a shaping machine, feeding means arranged to propel along a planar path a patternpiece of desired contour, an arbor adjacent said path with its axis substantially perpendicular to the path of travel of the pattern-piece, a follower on said arbor adapted to follow the contour of the pattern-piece as the latter moves therealong, means by which said arbor is supported for bodily movement substantially at right angles to its axis comprising a casing in which the arbor is mounted and a shaft about which the casing is movable as the follower follows the contour of the pattern-piece, a face plate rotated in timed relation to the feeding means for receiving a disk of Wood fixed to rotate with the face plate, a

shaft rotatable at right angles to the plane of the disk, a cutter on said shaft in engagement with the edge of the disk and adapted to cut thereinto, power means for rotating said cutter, a lever on one end of which the cutter and its shaft are mounted, said casing having on its exterior a gear segment and the other end of the lever having a complemental gear segment to mesh therewith for swinging the lever as the follower follows the pattern-piece, whereby as the follower is moved by the contour of the pattern-piece moving thereby the lever will be synchronously moved to cause the cutter to cut a cam surface in the disk edge.

JUDSON H. MANSFIELD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 506,919 Lyon Oct. 17, 1893 1,397,006 Jolk Nov. 15, 1921 1,615,088 Klieber Jan. 18, 1927 1,711,275 Mansfield et a1 Apr. 30, 1929 2,170,687 Johnson Aug. 22, 1939 2,312,118 Neisewander Feb. 23, 1943 2,333,542 Mansfield Nov, 2, 1943 

